Cooking: Red Beet Risotto with Roasted Vegetables

My simple, tasty and veggie winter recipe:

For 4 Persons:

- 80g Abrorio Risotto per Person

- 200ml white wine

- 100ml redbeet juice

-30g Parmiggiano Riggiano

- 8 mushrooms

- 1 carrot

- 1 red beet (middle size)

- 2 onions

- fresh thyme

- rosemary

- one pinch of lemon zest

- olive oil

- 400 vegetable or chicken stock

-2 Tblsp white balsamic vinegar

Salt & Pepper

1. Cut the red beet, mushrooms, carrot and one onion in mouthsize pieces. 

Then season with vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary, drizzle with 

olive oil and roast at 200°C in the oven for about 45-60 minutes.

2. After 20-30 minutes cut the other onion very small and fry it for 1 minute 

with the rice and a pinch of salt in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

3. Add 100ml of the white wine, then continue adding 50-100ml of the stock 

and the white wine every time the liquid gets absorbed by the rice. 

Don't forget to stir, otherwise the rice likes to stick to the base.

4. Add the red beet juice to the rice and stir. Now it gets a beautiful 

rose color and a slightly sweet taste. Test the rice, it should be cooked 

and sticky, but not to mellow in the middle of the corn. 

5. Grate most of the parmiggiano in the rice and stir, then serve with 

the roasted vegetables on top and finish by adding the rest of the grated cheese.

Bon Appetit!

Cooking: My best pumpkin soup

After I participated last Friday a mexican cooking class, I was so 

inspired that I tried a new way to make a pumpkin soup - a must do in october!

Usually I made it with coconut cream, ginger and carrots. 

Good but very common...Now this is my new favorite, and I think that 

I am going to make it again in two or three weeks.

You will need for 6:

1 small hokkaido pumpkin

2 cans of sweet corn

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves

pinch of cipotle powder

1 avocado

100g/3,5 oz feta cheese (made of sheep milk)

500ml / 13,5 fl oz chicken brooth

200ml water

4 little tomatos

Bake the whole pumpkin for 50min in the oven (200°C /392°F)

then let it cool down while you cut the corn from the cobs. 

Chop the onion and the garlic in small pieces. 

Take about one tablespoon from the onions and fry them in a bit of hot 

oil until they are almost black - I really mean almost black! It will give a 

fantastic smoky flavour to the soup...now take the fried onions beside 

and bring the chicken brooth to boil. Add three quarter of the corn and 

the fresh onions and garlic and let them simmer for 10 minutes 

while you  add a bit water every 5 minutes. 

Take the pumpkin, core it and cut it into fingerthick pieces. 

Quarter the tomatos and add them with the pumpkin pieces to the corn.  Then 

let the soup cook another 10 minutes, until you blend it (I suggest a hand held blender). 

If the soup is to thick, add some hot water. Serve the soup with bits of avocado, feta 

cheese crumbs  and a bit of the remaining  uncooked corn.

Bon appetit!